TERMS APPLYING ONLY TO NARROWBOATS AND THE CANALS

By Jeffrey Casciani-Wood

A narrowboat or narrowboat is a boat of a distinctive design, built to fit the narrow canals of Great Britain.

Wikipedia

This glossary covers terms that apply only to narrowboats and their environs and is included because the author firmly believes that the marine surveyor, in order to do his job properly, needs to understand extensively the background and history of the vessel he is surveying.

Abutment The supporting or retaining wall of a brick, concrete or masonry structure, particularly where it joins the item (e.g. bridge girder or arch) which it supports.

Advanced Electronic means of managing the charge to the batteries from the Alternator engine's alternator(s). Ensures that the batteries are more fully charged Controller and can increase useful battery life.

Aegre Tidal bore or wave which is set up by the first of a flood tide as it runs up the river Trent and the word is sometimes spelt Aegir.

Air Draught The overall height of a vessel measured from the water line to the highest fixed part of the superstructure.

Ait A small island in the upper reaches of the river Thames and the word is sometimes spelt eyot.

Anærobes Micro organisms, many exceedingly dangerous to human health, that live in the absence of free oxygen and often to be found in the condensate water settled at the bottom of diesel fuel tanks. Care is required when bleeding a fuel/water separator or when cleaning out fuel tank as their presence can lead to fuel oil problems.

Anchor A heavy iron or steel implement for securing a boat to the sea or river bed and fitted with partly swivelling flukes that bite into most types of bottom to give a firm purchase. Narrowboats are extremely weighty and need large heavy anchors when on river Navigations (q.v.). When dropped, the angle at which anchor presents itself to the bottom is critical for obtaining a swift hold and is governed by the way the Cable (q.v.) is constructed.

Anchor Hold The grip of an anchor upon the ground.

Anchor Stock The cross bar of an anchor which causes one or other of the flukes to turn to the bottom.

Animal Often along the canals pronounced hanimal and a boatman's name for a donkey or mule. Often used in pairs as they are not as powerful as horses.

Anode (or sacrificial anode) Replaceable, large piece of metal usually magnesium, fitted to the hull under the waterline, designed to corrode due to galvanism or electrolysis instead of the hull. Annual inspection for wastage/possible replacement is usual at which time it is normal to clean the hull and apply Blacking (q.v.).

Anser Pin A steel pin attached, immediately before the counter, to either or both gunwales of Motors (q.v.) and Butties (q.v.) to which straps from the after dollies or studs of both boats can be tightly hooked or shackled when Breasting Up (q.v.). That not only keeps the sterns together but also acting as a spring and stopping the Pair (q.v.) from riding forwards and backwards against each other. Tunnel Hooks (q.v.) can also be attached here.

Anti Cavitation A plate, usually attached to the weed hatch cover, that is flush, or almost Plate flush, to the Uxter Plate (q.v.) so that it closes off the underside of the Weed Hatch (q.v.) aperture.

Antifouling Paint applied underwater to inhibit weed growth on the hull. Usually applied to river and canal cruisers rather than narrowboats the steel hulls of which are invariably coated with bitumen paint, which has some antifouling characteristics.

APCO The Association of Pleasure Craft Operators – an organization that represents the narrow boat hire industry and a subsidiary body of BMIF (q.v.).

Aqueduct Often pronounced akkyduck by old boatmen. A bridge which carries a waterway over a valley, road or river etc., and constructed to avoid the expense of providing a number of inconvenient locks.

Arm A dead end branch off a main canal, built to service a town, quarry or mine etc.

Astern (1) Area or something behind or abaft the vessel.

(2) Of a boat:- going backwards or of an engine when in reverse gear (note, the boat may still be going forwards).

AWCC Association of Waterways Cruising Clubs – an organization for the numerous boat clubs of Britain's inland waterways.

Back Door Or Back End Door. A door in the bulkhead at the after end of a narrowboat's hold leading into back cabin or engine hole.

Back End Beam Or Bulkhead/Cabin Beam. See cross-beam.

Backering If a well trained horse could be trusted to tow a boat whilst unattended by a handler when the horse was said to be backering.

Back End Rail An often slightly curved, iron rail running across the full width of an exterior of the back cabin's forward bulkhead of a narrowboat some distance above the Back End Beam (q.v.) with a heavy iron ring able to slide across to either end and to which a boat handling strap may be fixed. Back End Rings Large iron rings, one each side of boat, fitted to the after cabin's bulkhead where there is no Back End Rail (q.v.), to which boat handling straps are attached.

Back Pumping A hydraulic control system whereby water can be pumped up hill at lock flights so that water lost from the higher pound can be replaced at times when there is a water shortage.

Bad Road A stretch of canal where many or all the locks are turned round against the boat’s direction of travel and need to be either filled or emptied before entering, making for a slower passage. The opposite situation is called a Good Road.

Bail, to (verb) To remove water by hand from the Bilges (q.v.).

Balance Beam Wooden or metal beam projecting from a lock gate (or lift bridge), to counterbalance the weight of the gate (or bridge) and thus allow leverage for opening and closing it.

Balance Plate An extension of the rudder blade mounted forward of the rudderstock. The plate which is also known as the Flight Plate (q.v.) is normally of about one fifth the area of that of the rudder blade and balances the rudder and reduces the hydrodynamic torque required to turn it enabling the rudder to be moved across the water flow with less effort.

Ballast Loose, heavy material (e.g. stone or iron) strategically placed within a hull to increase a boat's displacement and thus its stability and also to correct a list or poor trim.

Banbury Stick Short length of shaft or pole about three to four feet long with a line attached and used for propping open lift bridge between the end of its deck and the deck sill just a sufficient amount to allow a boat to pass under. The Steerer (q.v.) holds the line and pulls the stick away when the stern has passed under, to close the bridge, saving much time by avoiding having to stop and properly closing a fully opened bridge. Not recommended.

Bank Effect The tendency for the stern to swing out from the bank when the engine is in reverse due to some of the water thrust from propeller rising up between the boat and the bank and pushing the boat away.

Barge Not an alternative word for a narrowboat but any canal vessel over seven feet wide. There are over two hundred different types of barge that range from dumb lighters, Tom Puddings etc. to Liverpool short boats and Mersey/Weaver flats. The term barge is, however, often rudely used by boat builders and repairers to describe a narrowboat which they consider to be of poor quality. See also Wide Beam Narrowboat. However, some Dutch style barges have been copied in narrow width versions for use on narrow canals.

Bascule Bridge An opening bridge with its deck swinging vertically from one end. Possibly counterbalanced by overhead arms or weights beneath the surface. A bridge which opens horizontally is called a Swing Bridge (q.v.).

Basin A partly enclosed area of water at the terminus of, or at a point alongside, a canal or other Navigation (q.v.) comprising wharves and moorings.

Bat Boatman's name for one of the number of blades that makes up a narrowboat's propeller. See Blades.

Battery See Advanced Alternator Controller. Management System

Battle Cruiser A British canal colloquial name for a narrowboat that is a (usually somewhat battered) part of a hire fleet.

BCN Initials by which the Birmingham Canal Navigations (q.v.) are often known, an extensive and intricate network in and around Birmingham, reduced from an original 160 miles to a little over a still impressive 100 miles. Still in substantial commercial use as late as the mid 1960's.

Bed Cupboard Full height cupboard, often highly decorated, traditionally at the port side fore end of a boatman's cabin, forward of table cupboard the front of which lets down to form the containing the Cross Bed (q.v.) for which the cupboard contains the bedding.

Bed Hole Pronounced bed'ole. In a traditional Boatman's Cabin (q.v.) the area behind the transverse curtains and lace containing, when let down, the Cross Bed (q.v.).

Before Forward or ahead of.

Bell Oil To work or hit someone or something very hard is to give it some bell oil e.g. to work an engine at full throttle. A BCN expression.

Bight The outside of a tight bend in a river. See also Ness.

Blacking Term for protective coat of, often bitumen based, paint applied to steel hulls to discourage rusting. Current practice calls for reblacking every 18 - 24 months. May also have some antifouling properties.

Blade(s) Narrowboater's term for propeller whereof each blade of a propeller is called a Bat. (q.v.).

Blade Full Enough rubbish wrapped round the blades or propeller shaft that steering and/or thrust is affected or the engine stalls necessitating its immediate removal.

Blow Colloquial term for a warning blast of a boat's horn given when the view is restricted and there is potential danger of a collision. Boatmen of old would either crack a whip or blow on a horn.

Bluetop Sometimes called a Dustbin (q.v.). The last commercial narrowboats built for the British Transport Commission in late 1950's and so named because of the blue moulded plastic covers fitted over the hold. BMIF The British Marine Industries Federation an organization that represents the interests of British marine industry. A number of specialist trade bodies fit under its umbrella (see APCO, CBA. NYHA). It also organizes a number of major boat shows.

Boater's Code, the A free illustrated guide published jointly by British Waterways and Environment Agency containing a summary of regulations and good boating practice.

Boat Hook A light, multi-purpose shaft normally about eight feet long and usually made of wood with a metal or, sometimes, plastic point and hook at one end. An essential part of a boat's deck equipment and a legal requirement for licensed passenger boats. Working boatmen would always carefully place it within arm's reach on the cabin top with the hook end pointing to the stern in order not to damage the paintwork when taking it up. Useful for clearing fouled blades especially if there is no Weed Hatch (q.v.). . Boat Lift A mechanical means of lifting a boat vertically from one level of waterway to another, usually with the boat floating in water retained in a chamber or caisson, e.g. the Anderton Boat Lift and the Falkirk Wheel. See also Inclined Plane.

Boatman’s Cabin Originally the approximately 8 feet long after cabin of a working narrowboat, providing the crew's living and sleeping accommodation. Often recreated in modem traditional style narrow boats in addition to the main cabin accommodation.

Boatmaster The skipper of a boat or a holder, through examination by the MCA, of a Boatmaster's licence, qualified to skipper commercial cargo boats or passenger boats carrying more than 12 people whether fare-paying or not. Note, no boat may carry more than 12 people without a licensed boatmaster in charge.

Bobbins Hollow wooden rollers threaded on to the traces to reduce chafing the flanks of a towing horse.

Bobby Dazzler A tiny light fitted to after end of a cabin top or the stern of a Motor (q.v.) shown at night or in a tunnel for benefit of Butty (q.v.) Steerer (q.v.).

Bolinder Swedish engine manufacturer, well known for its old, single cylinder, slow running Semi Diesels (q.v.) used in narrowboats and barges. The engine, beloved by traditionalists, has a characteristic slow, irregular beat.

Bollard See Strapping Stump.

Bore The river Severn's tidal wave caused by the flood tide funnelling up the estuary and narrowing into the river, forming a wall of water to rise and move upstream at speeds up to 10 mph or more. Most marked during the autumn equinox. Called an Aegre (q.v.) on the River Trent.

Boss Stocks Special rocking stocks, or supports onto which a boat is jacked and which then are tilted over allowing boat to be side slipped i.e. launched into water sideways down a slipway by sliding down greased rails.

Bottom The bed of the canal, river or sea or the floor of a narrowboat's cargo space i.e. the topside of the hull's bottom plate – not the False Floor (q.v.) if fitted.

Bottom Breadth This is measured on flat bottomed canal boats only and is measured across the bottom from the outside of the outer chine bar or angle or the wear strip as appropriate to the same point on the other side of the hull.

Bottom Road Sometimes called the low road and the route favoured by many boatmen, to avoid going through Birmingham by taking the North Oxford, Coventry, Trent and Mersey canals. Going through Birmingham is known as the top or high road.

Bottom Plate The primary main structural plate forming the flat bottom of a canal narrowboat. Sometimes called the base plate or the sole plate.

Bottom's too An old boatman's phrase meaning that the water was dangerous and near the top shallow with a high risk of scraping the bottom or becoming grounded.

Bow The foremost part of a vessel's hull although fore end is the name preferred by working narrowboatmen.

Bow Hauling Frequently pronounced bowelling or barrelling by working boatmen. It is applied when a boat is being hauled by men instead of horse. Note: - the inboard end of the tow line was attached to the mast not to the bow stud thus allowing the boat to be kept from bank by the Steerer (q.v.).

Bracer Chains Chains (usually three of them), fitted transversely across the top of a narrowboat's hold that can be tensioned to stop the hull from spreading out when carrying a heavy load normally located underneath the cross beams for convenience and protection and which can act as measuring rods for gauging the boat's correct width. Bracing was needed to prevent the boat jamming in narrow locks, particularly at times of low water levels or if the lock walls are slightly bulged. The items are also called Straining Straps.

Breach Burst or collapse of a canal bank or dyke, allowing water to escape, perhaps causing flooding etc.

Bread and Larders Boatmen working between Napton and Oxford on the Oxford Canal.

Breast/Mitre Post A vertical post on a gate farthest from its hanging where the gates are in pairs with each post mitred to bed against the other when shut.

Breasted Up Two boats, often a Motor (q.v.) with a Butty (q.v.) or a mud hopper etc., tied up fore and aft alongside each other but being powered and steered from only one allowing the Steerer (q.v.) of the other vessel which otherwise would have to be towed behind and steered to attend to other duties. See also Anser Pins.

Bridge Guards Curved steel rails fastened between the forward outer edge of the cabin top and the fore deck of a canal boat to protect the superstructure from damage from bridges and tunnels.

Bridge Hole Pronounced bridge'ole and applied to the narrow water channel beneath a canal bridge.

Broad The East Anglian term for a lake.

Broads, the The connecting system of navigable lakes and rivers in East Anglia.

BSS The Boat Safety Scheme by which the Environment Agency and British Waterways ensures that boats meet minimum safety standards. A certificate of a boat's compliance is renewable every four years. It is mandatory for all private, hire and house boats although boats built after th the 16 June, 1998 are covered for the first four years under the RCD.

Bubble Tester A small device fitted into the gas feed line, usually within the gas locker and which allows the Owner or user to test for gas leaks in the system. The device is recommended within the EA/BW Boat Safety Scheme and is a very useful aid to safety.

Buckby Can A common nickname nowadays for decorated small coal scuttle type water can with an open flared top decorated in colours sympathetic to a narrowboat and with the boat’s name painted around the waist (q.v.). The village of Buckby (on the Junction) was only one of a number of places where these were produced but the name now seems to be all embracing.

Bulls Eye Small round port set in the cabin top fitted with convex glass for lighting the cabin rather than for seeing through.

Button A cylindrically-shaped rope or rope covered light structure fender fixed by chains to stem or stern or on the transom of narrowboat. The fender at stern should be long enough to protect the rudder when held amidships.

Butty An open top cargo carrying unpowered narrowboat frequently constructed of wood similar to the ones originally towed by horse but now towed by a Motor (q.v.). For efficient steerage it requires a much larger rudder than a Motor. Traditional Butty (q.v.) characterized by large, curving, often highly decorated tiller arm, a larger cargo hold and slightly longer boatman's cabin than a Motor due to the absence of an Engine Hole (q.v.).

Butty with To travel a considerable distance, perhaps for days, in company with another boat, to another boat or Pair (q.v.), the leading boat normally half-raising a paddle when leaving each lock to reset it for his colleague coming up behind, allowing him to keep up and not fall back.

BW British Waterways: Prior to 2012 the navigation authority for most of Britain's inland waterways and, particularly, the narrow canals. Succeeded in 2012 by the charitable status Canals and Rivers Trust (CRT). By Trader An independent carrier not in the Ownership of the navigation authority along whose waterway he trades.

By Wash A weir stream (open or culverted) situated by a canal lock and passing excess water from the higher to the lower pound.

Cabbages A derogatory term for poorly painted roses on a decorated narrowboat.

Cabin Top The top of the cabin superstructure of a pleasure narrowboat.

Cable A strong rope or chain for tying anything but especially a vessel's anchor. The makeup of an anchor cable is critical to the successful operation of the anchor in an emergency, particularly for narrowboats which are very heavy and require some stopping.

Cadger A dialectical name used on River Trent for a kedger or kedge anchor.

Caisson A container for holding a vessel when lifting it out of the water for inspection or repair or for lifting it, either still afloat in contained water or held dry in a cradle, up an inclined plane or boat lift or a strong casing for keeping out water e.g. at the mouth of a dry dock or while the foundations of a bridge are being built in the river bed.

Campshedding The protection of a canal or river bank using a covering of timber or interlocking, corrugated steel sheets.

CBA The Canal Boatbuilders’ Association an organization representing the interests of narrowboat builders. A subsidiary organization of the British Marine Industries Federation (q.v.) and very helpful to builders on Recreational Craft Directive matters.

Canalcoholic A hopelessly passionate canal enthusiast or one who also is an overzealous supporter of the canal side pubs.

Canalize, to To open up a river to navigation by constructing dams and weirs to create and manage water levels of navigable depth and, at the resultant changes in levels, creating short canal cuts and locks.

CRT The Canals & Rivers Trust and the successors in 2012 to British Waterways, responsible for the canals system and many of the navigable rivers.

Cants Rails or strip plinths that edge the fore deck and counter of traditional style narrowboats now usually made of steel and purely aesthetic but originally applied as a replaceable timber edging to take wear and tear.

Cavitation Plate In a narrowboat, the underside of the stern counter forming a horizontal plane just under the waterline that sits over the propeller helping to reduce the chances of cavitation. It forms the bottom plate at the bottom of the Weed Hatch (q.v.), if fitted, and forms part of and aligns with the larger plate. In other craft or on outboard motor legs any plate that performs a similar function.

Centre Line Boat handling or temporary mooring line bent to a stud or eyebolt on the cabin top amidships and invaluable when working single handedly. When under way it is usually laid out aft along the cabin top so that the Steerer (q.v.) can step off the stern with the line in hand.

Chalico A unpleasant mixture of gas tar, tallow, horse dung and horse or cow hair used hot to seal a space or crevice in, or to completely coat, the hulls of wooden boats.

Channel The deepest area of a navigable waterway.

Check Pin Term sometimes used for a strapping stump either just outside or just inside a lock gate and used when entering the lock for slowing and stopping an unpowered boat by taking a turn of the stern strap around it.

Chimney Nearly always pronounced chimley. The removable metal flue on the left side at the after end of the cabin top and exhausting the boat's stove. Normally painted black and bound with one or more brass bands. Usually secured by plain or fancy safety chain to the cabin top to prevent its loss overboard. Sometimes fitted with a Coolie or Chinaman's Hat (q.v.) for rain protection.

Chimney Tin A temporary extension to chimney to take fumes away from the Steerer (q.v.) and to improve stove's draught formed by jamming an old bottomless tin can of a suitable size into the top.

Chimney Pipe Side The left hand or port side of a narrowboat. Always to port so that it does not get knocked off if the boat has to move over to the right for on coming boats in tunnels into overhanging shrubs etc. A fact often forgotten by modern boat builders.

Chinaman's Hat A rain cover placed on top of a chimney that still allows flue to vent. Also called a Coolies Hat.

Cill See Sill.

Cloths The roped tarpaulins used to cover the cargo hold and Top Planks (q.v.).

Clough Pronounced clow or clew. A northern waterways word for a lock paddle or sluice.

Coach Line A paint line forming a box round the decoration on the side panels on the accommodation house.

Coal Box Often, the box step down into Boatman's Cabin (q.v.) with a removable or hinged lid for the storage of coal for the stove.

Cog or Coggie Boat A dinghy used to tender larger boats such as dredgers, keels or sloops. Term used on the north east waterways. Known as cock boat on the river Mersey.

Compartment Boat Rectangular boat used on the Aire and Calder Navigation (q.v.) worked in trains. Known as Tom Puddings (q.v.) or pans.

Composite Built The construction of a narrowboat's hull when two different materials are used, e.g. iron or steel sides and a wooden (English elm) bottom.

Contour Canal An artificial navigable channel that follows the same land contour throughout or for much of its course. Early canals were mainly contour ones to avoid the expense and construction difficulties of deep cuttings, high embankments, locks and tunnels (then in their infancy) and the exaggerated winding routes were expected to be more profitable by bringing extra business from the greater number of towns and villages that could be reached. Later, when competition from other canals and then from the railways made speed between the major towns and cities more critical, many contour canals underwent straightening programmes of which the Oxford canal is a famous example.

Coolies Hat See Chinaman’s Hat.

Counter Current Water current that flows alongside hull of boat that is making way even if the waterway itself has no flow. It is caused by the water flowing downhill from the bow as the boat's forward momentum pushes the water up into a bow wave to the stern where the propeller action lessens the depth of the water. The greater the speed of the boat, the bigger the difference in water levels and the faster the counter current. It causes Interaction (q.v.) which markedly affects the behaviour of narrowboats in shallow and narrow waters.

Counter Deck The round or elliptical (looking from above) small stern of a motor forming a ledge projecting over the propeller and shaft.

Counter Floor A n alternative name for the Uxter Plate (q.v.).

Counter Plate Another alternative name for the Uxter Plate (q.v.).

Cratch An optional assembly over the forewell of a modern pleasure narrowboat. Based on a solid or glazed triangular deckboard (frequently but less properly called a cratchboard) which is supported from the cabin top by a top plank. The assembly is completed by a fitted soft cover, usually of vinyl, sometimes of proofed canvas. The result greatly extends the usability of the forewell. Either side of the cover can be rolled up to allow access to the forward well deck or cockpit when travelling and is sometime, incorrectly, called (by yotties) a Tonneau8 and may be fitted with a zipped door/window panel. Early forms of cratches were covers over the fodder stores of horse drawn narrowboats and the term is thought to be derived from the French word crèche.

Cratchboard The forward bulkhead of a Cratch assembly.

Cross Bed A narrow double bed across the full width of the fore end of a boatman's cabin formed by opening the bed cupboard. Usually very attractively finished with curtains, lace, pictures etc and frequently left in place by working boatmen when it would be referred to as the Bed Hole.

8. Tonneau (pronounced tonno) is, strictly, an archaic French term roughly meaning a cask, container or cover for an open rear passenger compartment on an automobile and, by extension, a body style incorporating such a compartment. The permanent, fixed cockpit cover in a boat should, perhaps slightly more accurately, be called a bimini. Cross Straps Two short tow ropes, one from each side of the stern of a Motor (q.v.) or tug, crossed at the bow of the butty or other tow (or one rope used to the same effect) that are tightly secured such that the Motor's stern fender and butty's stem are touching thus permitting a Pair (q.v.) of boats to operate as a single articulated unit and not requiring a Steerer (q.v.) on the towed boat. Cross straps are only used when the craft are running empty or otherwise the Butty's (q.v.) Bow (q.v.) would be low in the water and baffle the Motor's (q.v.) propeller thrust.

Cross Beam (or Cross Plank) one of up to five wide wooden planks across the hold of a narrowboat, slotted to take and help support a stand respectively the fore end beam, the mast beam, the middle beam, the stern (or stern middle) beam and the backend (or bulkhead/cabin) beam.

Cruiser Stern Style See Narrowboat.

Crumb Drawer See Knife Drawer.

Cuddy A small shelter cabin in a boat. Normally the cuddy is not big enough to stand in. The term cuddy cabin is occasionally heard among small boaters but it is a tautology. A cuddy boat is a boat with a small cabin with maybe a small head and, possibly, a small single berth.

Culvert An arched or piped channel for carrying water under or through something e.g. a canal overflow through an embankment or water released by ground paddle.

Cut The name much preferred by the canal community for a canal Navigation (q.v.) or any artificial channel.

Cut and Fill A method used to obtain a level canal by excavating cuttings and using the excess soil for the construction of embankments.

Cutwater Shaped footing to a pier of a river bridge directing the flow of water through the arches either side and thus reducing the erosion of the pier.

Cutter A baffle, (also called a Splitter or a Titch) usually a vertical brass loop, fitted to the top of a narrowboat engine's vertical exhaust pipe, breaking the force of and directing the exhaust gases to the left and right in order to avoid the blast being deflected back and bringing down soot, mortar etc. from low bridge and tunnel rooves onto the Steerer (q.v.) and cabin top.

Day Boat A horse drawn working boat without cabins or sleeping accommodation specifically used for localised short haul traffic (common in BCN), frequently without cabin accommodation. See also Joey. Now used to mean a smaller narrowboat available for single day hire.

Deck Board See Cratch.

Deck Equipment A collective term for the boat hook, shaft, gangplank, ladder etc. usually neatly racked on a cabin top cradle.

Dipper A metal multipurpose utensil similar to a large deep frying pan often used for baling out or for drawing up a small amount of water from the canal.

Distance Posts Also called DIS Posts. On some canals e.g. the Oxford, marker posts some distance from lock gates giving precedence at the lock to the boat first to the marker. Apparently introduced to try to calm down commercial traffic that otherwise would race each other right up to lock entrance resulting in collisions, damage to lock gates and to fights.

Dog Box A cabin top skylight or vent on a narrowboat larger than a pigeon box and with fixed or hinged glazed double pitches attached to an under frame.

Dolly A small upright cylindrical metal deck fitting with either concave sides or a button head fitted on each quarter of a canal narrowboat or a Motor's (q.v.) counter to which ropes may be secured for tying up or towing. See also T Stud.

Door A Fen term for gate. In the Fens, lock gates are called sluice doors.

Double Chine A term used to describe a boat with a flat horizontal hull bottom is separated from flat vertical hull sides by another flat surface angled between the two and where two sharp or soft chines are formed. Some early leisure narrowboats particularly those by Springer (q.v.) were built in this style but it is more often used now on Wide Beam (q.v.) steel boats.

Double Lock Where two separate locks are provided side by side and usually installed where traffic was heavy to reduce queue waiting. Examples are Hampstead Road (Regents Canal) and Hillmorton (North Oxford Canal).

Duker A wooden dumb barge operating on the Bridgwater canal.

Dunnage Loose wood in the bottom of the hold to keep the cargo above any bilge water. In a narrowboat the latter is usually achieved by fitting a False Floor (q.v.) but dunnage sometimes additionally used to raise bagged or crated cargo above the floor of the hold to facilitate the use of hoist slings when unloading.

Downhill Runner Also called a Downhill Strap. A line used for holding narrowboat steady when entering and going down in lock.

Drains A term applied to the Fenland Drains, an extensive system of drainage channels constructed to facilitate land reclamation, the largest of them being navigable having locks at the relatively few changes in levels and providing a link between the Cambridgeshire Navigations (q.v.) and the Midlands canal network.

Draw To draw means to open or raise a paddle so as to allow water to pass through. The reverse is to drop, lower or shut in. Also the amount of water a vessel draws is her draught.

Dredge, to (Verb) To clear the bottom of a waterway of scour and other accumulated silt and rubbish in order to deepen it.

Drive, to (Verb) To drift a boat stern first with the current or tide whilst dragging from the bows an anchor or mud weight along the bottom to give the required steerage.

Drugging The river Thames term for Driving.

Dustbin A somewhat derogatory name for a Blue Top (q.v.).

EA Environment Agency. The Government body responsible for monitoring condition of Britain's natural waterways (in addition to some coastal areas), whether navigable or not. Also the navigation authority for the river Thames, some other south eastern rivers and for Anglian waterways excluding the Broads. (q.v.). It acts jointly with BW in harmonizing boat safety standards and navigation byelaws.

Ellum The term used by working narrowboatmen to describe the steering equipment and is made up of the swan neck, extension, rams head etc.

N.B.44 The H is not missing in the spelling as it is not a part of the word.

Engine Hole Pronounced engine'ole. A narrowboat's engine room and a Boatman's euphemism for the w.c. as it was where the toilet bucket would normally be kept in a commercial narrowboat.

Eyebrows A canal term for the forward ends of the deck edge rubbing strakes where they join the stem. Also a name for the small water deflecting pieces over a vessel’s side scuttles or portlights. The latter are sometimes (although rarely) called Rigols.

Eyot See Ait.

False Cratch An A shaped upright wooden frame forming the aftermost part of the cratch in a working narrowboat. Sometimes decorated with geometric shapes.

False Floor Removable rectangular wooden sections laid over a boat's bottom, either side of the keelson, to keep dry cargoes away from the bilge water.

Fan Another boatman's term for the propeller.

Fan Hole Pronounced fan'ole. A traditional term to describe depth of the blades in the water and its effect on thrust efficiency. If too low due to loading and/or shallow water and thus too near the bottom and stirring up the mud then there would be “too much fan'ole". If too high due to poor trim thus causing cavitation then it would be "not enough fan'ole."

Flash A wave of water or a small lake, a number of which form part of the Basingstoke Canal or a lake formed after mining subsidence underground.

Flash Lock An early, and wasteful of water, means of controlling a navigable river's water levels using a single, simple gate or series of vertical paddles set in a weir or dam. Boats passing downstream would have to wait until the water both sides had equalised or shoot alarmingly over the mini waterfall which producedthe flash and those going upstream might have to wait hours after passing through until the next reach had increased in depth sufficiently to navigate.

Flat A north west of England wooden or steel dumb or sailing barge usually named after the river on which they operated i.e. Mersey or Weaver.

Flat Box The same as a pigeon box but with a flat, hinged or removable lid.

Flight A series of locks built close together with short pounds in between each.

Flight Plate See Balance Plate.

Flood Lock On a canalized river a lock at the upstream end of a canal cut used only when the river is in flood to protect the cut and its other lock(s). Both head and tail gates are usually secured open except when flooding is expected.

Flush The normal swell or wave of water either inside a lock or along the pound below it caused by opening the paddles or, as a verb, to cause a rush of water e.g. to flush a lock by opening the top paddles with the tail gates open to try to free a boat jammed at low level in the chamber or to float a boat grounded in the tail when water levels are low.

Fly Boat Originally a horse drawn boat, often using relays of horses provided by canal side stables, which travelled nonstop, day and night, to quickly get to its destination. Generally their speed was no faster than other boats as all boats went as fast as they could because the boatman were usually paid for the load, not for the actual time it took. Before, and for some time after, the advent of railways, companies operated passenger and small packet services towed by two or more cantering horses often at speeds up to 10 m.p.h. necessitating frequent changes of horses. Other boats had to get out of their way and drop their towropes quickly. The term now applies to any type of boat travelling day and night and described as a working fly.

Follower In a stern gland assembly, a circular brass tube that, by tightening nuts, can be gently forced further into the void between the propeller shaft and stern tube thus causing the packing which can become compressed through use leading to dripping water, to form a better seal. In other boats, the item is more usually called the gland although that term strictly applies to the whole set up.

Footings The lower end of the side plating and the frame knees or outer ends of the transverse floors of a narrowboat. This term is only ever heard on the British canals.

Fore and Aft Both at the bow and the stern and often used to describe how a boat should be tied up.

Fore Deck The deck area in the bow of a vessel. On a modern narrowboat it is the foremost deck, forward of the forward Well Deck (q.v.) or cockpit underneath which usually lies the gas locker.

Fore End The term preferred by boatmen for the bows of a narrowboat. Also, the foremost end of anything being described e.g. of the cargo space, of a cabin etc.

Fore End Beam See Cross Beam.

Forepeak The space forward of the collision bulkhead often, in narrowboats, used as a gas or rope locker and with the fresh water tank underneath extending from the forward bulkhead to the stem.

Fore Well A well in the bows of a vessel, immediately abaft the Fore Deck (q.v.). Foul Not clear or free.

Freeboard The minimum vertical distance from the surface of the water to the deck.

Fresh or Freshet An increase in a canal or river's depth and current strength following heavy rain.

Gabbart A type of lighter or barge, used from the 17th to the 19th century. They were small one masted sailing or coasting vessels used mostly for inland navigation and transported mainly coal and fish (mainly herring). A long narrow flat vessel or lighter designed for the river Clyde 60 feet long x 13 feet 6 inches wide, of from 30 to 40 tons with a hatchway extending almost the full length of the decks, sometimes fitted with masts that may be lowered to pass under bridges.

Gang A number of Fenland lighters - usually five - chained together to carry cargo.

Gang Plank A stout length of timber, perhaps with treads, allowing disembarkation from boat to bank where it is not possible to tie up tight to bank or where the height between deck and bank is too great also, in a working narrowboat, an alternative name for the Top Plank.

Gas Boat Also called a Gassy. A narrowboat with cargo hold decked over and tanked for carrying gas water or other liquids e.g. oil, tar etc.

Gate The moveable wooden or steel door or shutter enabling a canal or river lock to operate. May contain paddles allowing passage of water when it is closed.

Gate Paddle A sliding door over a sluice in a gate to control the water passing through. When ascending in a lock, the ground paddle(s) should be opened first and not opened fully until the water has risen above it (them).

Gauge This term means either a measure of a working boat’s ability to carry cargo (obsolete bur see Gauging) or the narrowboat’s overall breadth and a boat which, through age and/or neglect, has become wider than the maximum 6′ 10½″ is said to be out of gauge.

Gauging An exercise carried out by canal companies at toll booths to assess the weight of cargo being carried so the toll payable could be calculated. The hull sides of most boats would be permanently marked or the heights of the gunwales above the water line would be measured. The canal at a gauging station would usually narrow to the width of a boat and there was normally a lock type gate that would remain chained until the toll was paid.

Girder On a commercial narrowboat, a thin line for lashing the top planks in position and taken down either side to the ends of the cross beam just inside the gunwale.

Gongoozler A term of unknown origin for someone who idly stands and stares particularly at boats and especially at locks.

Gonguzzler Another term of unknown origin for someone who not only idly stands and stares but also copiously drinks extra strong lager and its like until they have to sit or lie down before they fall down. Frequently to be seen alongside urban canals.

Good Road A stretch of canal ahead where all or most of the locks have not been turned round i.e. they are set favourably not needing to be filled or emptied before entering making for an easier and speedier passage (see Bad Road).

Grab Rails Hand hold fittings mounted on cabin tops for the safety of personnel when moving around the boat.

Greasy Ocker A boatmen's name for those working for the carriers Fellows Morton and Clayton, perhaps due to that company's Birmingham tallow trade or to a reported practice of protectively greasing their horses' hocks when towing paths were particularly muddy.

Ground Sluice A sluice for filling or emptying a lock operated by a Ground Paddle not through the gate itself as with Gate Paddle but by way of a Culvert (q.v.) through the adjacent ground or masonry.

Grounding Striking the bottom or running hard aground – arts well practised on the canals. Common place for grounding of deeper draughted boats in low water conditions can be in bridge holes not only because of rubbish that tends to accumulate but also the brick invert can form a sill proud of the bottom under water. That may be overcome by using the old technique of accelerating up to the bridge strongly enough to make the water wobble, cutting the revolutions down to tick over when the fore end reaches the hole and by the time the stern reaches the channel the, by then, overtaking wake lifts the stern high enough to clear the obstacle. On the other hand it may dump the boat on top of the obstruction, leaving her high and dry.

Guards The canal name for the rubbing strakes and used particularly in connection with the top most raised rubbing strip round the bow of a traditional style narrowboat. Also, wooden hulled narrowboats would frequently have strips of metal sheeting attached to hull along the laden and unladen waterlines to guard against damage from ice.

Guillotine Gate A lock gate raised and lowered vertically from an overhead framework, common as a bottom gate on the Nene Navigation (q.v.).

Haling Way The fenlands name for a towpath.

Hand Signals Much preferred on the canals to Sound Signals and usually far more effective. Boaters can devise their own provided they are clear and unambiguous. Commonly used ones include: -

"I'm about to wind" = Arm straight up in air, describing wide circles.

"There's a boat approaching" = Arm and pointing finger straight up in air.

"There's a wide beam approaching" = Arm and finger up in air followed by arms held out wide to the sides.

"I want you to pass me on the starboard i.e. the wrong side. 1) Wave right arm from side to side above the head (to attract Steerer's (q.v.) attention). 2) point the right arm to the boat ahead meaning you then swing arm round to point to the right. 3) with the left arm, point down to and touch your head meaning me then point to the left. IMPORTANT - if the other Steerer (q.v.) does not acknowledge his agreement then he must be passed on the default side i.e. port to port.

"No" or "I don't agree" = Crossed arms held up high.

Handspike A wooden bar used as a lever. On some locks on the Calder and Hebble Navigation, a handspike is still needed for working the lock paddle gear instead of a windlass. Also used for operating capstans and some types of fire hose and bilge pumps.

Hard Chine An abrupt intersection between the hull side and the hull bottom of a boat so constructed. Having a distinct right angled bottom/side plating junction. Most narrowboats have a hard chine, the exceptions being the boats built by Springer Engineering Ltd., which have a shallow V bottom and a double chine and some of the Northwich boats which had round bilges.

Harpin A round bar extending over the bow and supporting the stem. Also called a whisker harpin. If fitted at the stern it is called a trailing harpin.

Hatches On a horse boat or Butty (q.v.) the after well deck where the steerer stands and its immediate surroundings. Sometimes used to refer to the place where a steerer stands in a Motor (q.v.).

Hauling Bank/Path Rarely used term for towpath.

Head Bow of a vessel, to aim in a particular direction or, of a lock - the area immediately outside the top gates that of the bottom gates being the tail.

Head Gate(s) The upper or top gate(s) of a lock i.e. the gates at the higher pound level.

Heel Post The vertical circular sectioned post on the side of a lock gate which rests against the hollow quoin of the lock side.

Hobble Old term used on some canals meaning to Lockwheel (q.v.).

Hold Back To put the engines astern to stop forward way. The term comes from the hauling days when the towing line would have to be hauled backwards.

Hold In/Hold Out A boatman's instructions for steering. Hold in means to steer for or continue close to the towpath (the inside) and hold out means to stay to the side furthest from it (the outside).

Holding Back Pins On some wide locks, very small diameter metal or wooden posts just inside the gates used, when leaving, for holding back the Butty (q.v.) by a strap to stop it being sucked out alongside the Motor (q.v.) which exits first.

Hole Pronounced 'ole. The narrow water channel under a bridge or at the entrance to a tunnel. See also Bridge Hole, Bed Hole and Engine Hole.

Hollow Quoin The rounded recess in the wall of a lock chamber in which the heel post of a gate is located and in which it partially revolves when being opened and closed.

Hopper A floating, towable, narrow or wide beam bottom hopper barge for collecting dredging spoil, rubbish etc.

Hopper Window A form of rectangular window on modern pleasure narrowboats where the whole pane lets down slightly into the cabin for ventilation when required. See also Top Hopper Window.

Horse Boat A small open boat that ferried the horses and mules from one side of the Navigation (q.v.) to the other when the towpath changed side in places where there was no turnover bridge but also loosely used to describe a horse drawn narrowboat.

Horse Marine A man who contracted for the haulage of vessels by horse on the canals of Yorkshire.

Humber Keels Bluff ended apple bowed cargo barges, originally with square rigged sails operating on the Yorkshire waterways. They were of differing sizes because of the variously dimensioned locks on the individual waterways.

Humber Sloops As for Humber Keels (q.v.) except that they were rigged fore and aft.

Hung Up A narrowboat caught on a gate projection within a lock, particularly by the rudder or skeg on the sill inside the top gate as the water empties.

Hydraulic Drive Drive transmitted from the engine to the propeller through a pressurized oil system obviating need for a conventional gearbox and allowing great flexibility in the siting of the engine.

ICC International Certificate of Competence, required beforehand if steering a private boat in certain Continental countries but not, currently, if hiring from a recognized hire company who can issue a temporary one without a practical examination.

Ice Breaker The name given to a type of specialized narrowboat designed to break the ice in the canals to try to keep navigation open in severe winters. They usually had a long pointed entry and were sometimes fitted with thicker plates at the forward end. They often had flat sides with about three inches fall out and were sometimes as narrow as six feet six inches in the beam to enable them to be rolled by a gang of men, standing along both gunwales, holding onto a central rail and violently rocking the boat from side to side as it made its way forward.

Ice Plates Thin iron or steel sheeting nailed to a wooden hull at both loaded and empty water lines to protect the hull from the cutting action of ice.

Inclined Plane A wheeled system which enables boats to be lifted from one level to another without using locks by means of a slope fitted with rails. The boats are carried either in a dry cradle or afloat in a tank (or caisson) e.g. the Foxton Inclined Plane.

Ing A water meadow particularly in Yorkshire.

Inside The towpath side of the canal. See also Hold In.

Inside Turn A sharp bend in canal where, rarely, the deeper channel is close to the tow path as opposed to the more usual Outside Turn.

Inspection Launch A short narrowboat loosely modelled on Victorian Thames launches with a long, covered but open sided front fore well which contained the wheel steering position and used by canal companies to carry the Directors on their periodic inspections.

Interaction A phenomenon that can result in a boat swinging off course for no apparent reason. Caused by an imbalance in the water pressures exerted on either side of the hull through counter currents of different speeds passing down each side. The counter current will be fastest along the side where the water is narrower and/or shallower. The faster the counter current, the lower the water pressure. The boat will immediately veer to the side with the lower pressure, particularly the stern end as that has a greater profile in the water and is where the counter current is at its fastest. Thus go too fast, too close to the bank or tunnel wall etc. and the stern will swing, possibly striking the bank. Overtake a boat too fast or too close and they will be drawn together. The effect can be very marked when passing an oncoming boat too fast and too closely due to both boats' opposed counter currents; if the canal is too narrow to allow a wide berth, both boats must slow down considerably – it is theoretically possible for boats passing closely at speed and having collided, to then become grounded in mid channel through the opposed propellers sucking all the water out from under both hulls. Steering the wrong way might help reduce the interaction effect when it occurs but better to avoid it through appropriate speed.

Invert An inverted arch of brickwork or masonry, used chiefly in canal work to form the bottom of locks, bridges and tunnels in cases where lateral or upward pressure has to be resisted.

Inverter A device, common on modern narrowboats with no onboard AC generator, for taking power stored in the service battery bank and converting it from 12v DC to 240v AC for intermittent use of mains appliances e.g. television sets, vacuum cleaners etc. The quality of the supply is generally poor making it unsuitable for some sensitive electric motors and electronic equipment.

IRPCS Regulations The International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea, some of which apply to inland waters and are sometimes referred to as Rules of the Road (e.g. passing oncoming boats port to port unless mutually agreed otherwise), navigation lights, sound signals etc. Lists of the more common sound signals are in the Boater's Code (q.v.) and other authorities' guide books but unfortunately they do not always agree on meanings and clear hand signals are preferred on the canals.

IWA The Inland Waterways Association - a voluntary body set up in 1946 to rescue Britain's waterways from threatened dereliction. It represents the interests of all waterways users - not just boaters. Its fund campaigning includes several rallies of which the best known is the National Waterways Festival, held every August.

IWAAC The Inland Waterways Amenity Advisory Council. An advisory body (or QANGO) set up in 1968 to advise British Waterways (q.v.) and the Government on the use and management of waterways under BW's jurisdiction.

Jack Clough A wooden ground paddle operated by a lever and which pivots to open or close the culvert.

Jam Hole The Jam'ole. Messrs Kearley and Tonge's jam factory on the Grand Union at Southall.

Jalousie A grill cut in the top board in way of the engine room for ventilation and often called an engine room vent.

Joey A term for a day boat or boatman working short haul traffic, particularly in the BCN. The boatmen lived ashore and their craft had only minimal cabin accommodation, if any.

Josher A British canal colloquial term for a narrowboat built for the fleet of Fellows Morton and Co. Ltd. and Fellows, Morton and Clayton Ltd. The vessels were built with riveted iron sides and an elm bottom. A very fine lined long entry narrowboat with an elongated S shaped waterline named after Samuel Josher who built the first one of the type. The fine entry is sometimes called an icebreaker bow and as such was often fitted to tugs built to break winter ice on the canals.

Junction, the A boatmen's name for that part of the Grand Union Canal between Brentford and Braunston only i.e. the length of the original Grand Junction Canal from London to where it met the Oxford Canal.

Keb A rake made from iron which is used for fishing up articles lost overboard from the bottom of a canal.

Kedger An alternative name for kedge anchor or Cadger (q.v.).

Keel One or more parallel longitudinal fins on the underside of the hull, strong enough for a boat to sit on when not afloat and whose main function is to give longitudinal strength to the hull and to improve the directional stability through water. They are not needed in conventional square-sectioned narrowboats because the flat hull sides grip the water. Alternatively a square rigged sailing barge.

Keel Cooling A method whereby sealed water coolant system is cooled before return to the engine block by passing through fine tubes attached to the outside skin of the hull below the water line. It avoids the blockage problem inherent in raw water cooling system.

Ketch A square rigged sailing barge used on the river Trent.

Knife Drawer A drawer immediately under the door of table cupboard in a traditional boatman's cabin. Used for cutlery storage and sometimes jokingly referred to as the Crumb Drawer because any remaining food particles on the table could fall in when shutting the cupboard.

Lade Hole A sump or well in the bottom of a narrowboat's hold to facilitate baling or pumping out water.

Land Rack An Irish term for a ground paddle.

Land Water Drainage water entering a Navigation (q.v.) from the land.

Landscape The highly stylized painted picture to be found on all traditionally decorated narrowboats in various places such as cabin side panels, interior panels on stern doors, table and bed cupboards, water cans etc. Although composition and styles vary the essential main elements seem to be a castle, an expanse of water with boat sail(s), distant mountains and, in the foreground, a small river or stream with a bridge. The painting's origins and significance are unknown. See Roses and Castles.

Left Bank An often confusing term referring to the left bank of a river when travelling downstream.

Legger Historically, one of a group of poor, otherwise unemployed, workers who would wait at the entrance to a tunnel with no tow path, in the hope of being selected by passing horse drawn boatman to help leg the boat through for just a few pence for, in the longer tunnels, up to 2 – 3 hours' hard labour. Frequently would have their own board (or wing) sometimes roughly shaped to better suit the legger’s body to lessen the pain and physical injury from this arduous, back breaking work.

Legging A method used to propel unpowered boats through tunnels with no towing path. It involved the boatman lying on his back and using his feet to walk along the side or top of arch.

Length’sman A canal company's employee responsible for the routine maintenance of a certain piece or length of waterway.

Let Go The order to drop the anchor or, on the canals, to untie the mooring ropes and move off.

Let Off A sluice that enables the discharge of water from the canal in rainy weather so it does not overflow its banks. Also used to empty a canal section for maintenance.

Level A long pound in an artificial waterway, sometimes given a distinguishing name e.g. Birmingham Level.

Lift Bridge A movable bridge the deck of which either swings up around its hinged end or moves vertically upwards.

LPG Liquified Petroleum Gas supplied in steel bottles and used for cooking or heating. It comes mainly in two forms: -

i. Butane usually in blue containers, with a higher calorific value and delivered to the appliance at a lower pressure than Propane. Not liked by many boaters as it can wax and not burn properly during freezing temperatures.

ii. Propane usually in red or orange containers, with a lower calorific value and delivered at a higher pressure to the appliances than Butane. Generally preferred by most narrowboaters as, unlike Butane, its performance is relatively unaffected by freezing temperatures.

Lock The main means of raising or lowering a boat between changes in water levels, comprising a chamber with gate(s) at its Head (q.v.) and Tail (q.v.) and sluices with paddle(s) to raise or lower the water. See also Flash Lock, Flood Lock, Pound Lock and Turf Sided Lock.

Lock Key See Windlass.

Lock, to (Verb) To work a boat through a lock.

Locked Up An old term for being delayed through the chaining and locking of a lock gate at some point either side of a summit level to conserve water when levels low by restricting number of boats allowed to pass each day.

Lockwheel, to (Verb) To prepare or set locks ahead of a boat's arrival. This work was originally done by a boy using a bicycle hence the term wheel.

Long Boat River Severn area term for a narrowboat which, in that area, were slightly larger than average with deeper holds and carrying up to 40 tons. Longitudinals Those hull framing members that run the length of the boat (i.e. chine bars, keel and stringers).

Luby Also spelt Loobey or Looby. A spring loaded, swivelling steel pin surmounting narrowboat's mast and to which the tow line was attached (or was supported if running blocks were being used).

Lutchet A socket into which a sailing or towing mast can be stepped.

Making Water A leaking boat is said to be making water.

Making Way The movement through the water which causes Counter Currents (q.v.) down the sides of the hull which, in turn, can lead to Interaction (q.v.).

Mast The fixing point for towing a Horse Boat (q.v.) or Butty (q.v.) from the tow path or for towing a Butty by a Motor (q.v.) if running blocks are being used. Located about a quarter of the way along the hold. In two parts: - (1) the hollow, square wooden box mast which rises vertically from the bottom up to the top planks and contains (2) the steel topmast, which includes the Luby (q.v.) and to which the tow rope is fixed and is capable of extending a foot or two above the top planks. The angle of the tow at that distance from the bows enables the boat to be steered. Usually decorated with diamonds or other geometric patterns.

Mast Beam See Cross Beam.

Mast Step The recess into which the mast is located (in a narrowboat : - within the bottom of the boat).

Mate A narrowboat's hired hand (usually a young boy or girl) needed where there were no children on board to help, often directly employed by the Steerer (q.v.). A Pair (q.v.) needed a crew of three to navigate efficiently. Speed was always of the essence as pay was by the load and not on a time basis). The mate would usually Lockwheel (q.v.) and help handle the Butty (q.v.).

Middle Beam See Cross Beam.

Mitre Gate One of double lock gates, each being mitred down the edge where they meet when closed and forming a better water seal.

Monkey Boat Old London river term for narrowboat thought to originate with an early narrowboat carrier named Monk who is reputed to have first introduced what became the traditional boatman's live in cabin.

Monkey Box In a traditional boatman's cabin, a fitted timber box with hinged lid immediately between end of the side bench (or side bed) and the after bulkhead. Often used for storage of cleaning materials and possibly named after a brand of brass polish.

Moor, to (Verb) To secure a boat against the bank with lines to strapping stumps, mooring pins etc. A canal boatman never moored - he tied up.

Mooring Hook A usually G shaped metal mooring aid designed to fasten into the top of the metal piling sheets used to repair the towpath bank and then treated as if it were a mooring ring. Much favoured as, unlike stakes, they cannot be pulled out by the action of other boats passing by too quickly.

Moria Cut The Ashby canal.

Motor The powered boat in a Pair (q.v.) and usually having less cargo space and a smaller boatman’s cabin than its Butty (q.v.) because of the engine room. The Motor was immediately identifiable by its vertical exhaust on the cabin top and by its small, low stern counter. Traditionally steered by a man with his wife, if married, steering the Butty unless she were the Owner of the Motor which was extremely rare.

Mud Box A filter chamber, just inside the raw water cooling hull inlet and skin fitting which traps mud, weed and other debris stopping it from being drawn into and blocking the finer waterways of the engine.

Mud Heelers The name sometimes given to boatmen on the northern part of Oxford canal, from Napton to Hawkesbury Junction.

Mud Weight A very large weight, usually of iron, used as an anchor where bottom conditions do not provide a good holding for a conventional anchor, e.g. in deep silt. Commonly found in the Fens.

Mushroom Vent A usually brass ventilation fitting on cabin top looking somewhat mushroom shaped. Older versions could be hand screwed down to shut off draughts but such are not now allowed under current BSS regulations. A slotted flat plate ventilator is called a Jalousie.

Nab A promontory or point of land, often the angle where two rivers meet.

NABO National Association of Boat Owners. A relatively young voluntary body set up by boat Owners who consider that the IWA does not fully represent their interests.

Narrow Boat In some areas known as a monkey boat or long boat. A commercial, cargo carrying canal boat measuring approximately 70 feet to 72 feet long by 6 feet l0½ inches to 7 feet in beam. Used extensively throughout but not confined to, the Midland narrow canals system. The design and dimensions thought to have evolved from those first used in 18th century on the Bridgewater Canal taking coal to Manchester from the Worsley coal mines. The original boats were of all wood construction, followed by composites with wooden bottoms but with the hull sides made of iron and later of steel followed by all steel hulls (iron and steel hulls were much lighter than wood) although some all wood construction continued right up to mid 20th century. There were many, relatively slight, design variations but the first major change came with increased long distance traffic requiring the provision of a boatman's cabin for living and sleeping accommodation for the Steerer (q.v.) and his family. The next significant change came with introduction of steam and then compression ignition engines, resulting in the Motor (q.v.) with its stern counter and capable of towing what previously had been a Horse Boat (q.v.) but which became known as a Butty (q.v.). Notwithstanding, some hauling by horse continued commercially right up to the 1960's in some places, particularly with Day Boats (q.v.). Modern and usually much shorter narrowboats built for leisure purposes roughly retain the Motor (q.v.) design, but with a full length cabin accommodation in place of the cargo hold. They generally come in three main styles: -

1. Cruiser: The more modern style with a round or transom stern and where the stops several feet short of the stern allowing for an after hatch space. A style of modern pleasure narrowboat roughly based on the lines of former working boats but adapted to provide a large exposed but more sociable after deck, protected by a taffrail, under which is the engine compartment

2. Traditional: A round sterned vessel where the cabin extends to very close to the stern and covers the boatman's cabin so that the helmsman can stand inside the cabin doors. The engine room is forward of the boatman’s cabin.

3. Semi Traditional: The cabin sides extend aft to give a side elevation similar to the traditional style but where the sides are fitted with passenger seats and with no top fitted over the last six to eight feet.

Narrow Canals Canals, generally those in the English Midlands area, whose locks were built to take narrowboats with a beam of no more than 7 feet. Why that became the standard is not known but it is thought probable it was to keep down canal construction costs. Without their introduction from the mid 18th century onwards bringing a lightning fast (for the period), reliable, year round way of carrying raw materials and finished goods throughout inland England, the Industrial Revolution would not have got going until very much later. The early canals were highly profitable, leading to a canal mania but many of the later ones were doomed to poor returns and even early abandonment through lack of sufficient commercial demand or inadequate water supply. Canals ruled supreme for some 70 years but the establishment of the railways from mid 19th century onwards and improved road transport in 20th century dealt them blows from which they could not recover. In the 1930's, the Grand Union Canal Company, in a valiant effort to make the canal system viable for the modern age, tried to encourage all the other canal companies to broaden the locks to 14 feet and, with government aid, famously led the way by widening their canal almost to the centre of Birmingham (they ran out of money). Unfortunately no one else followed suit. The Second World War temporarily postponed the death sentence, after which the system quickly fell into terminal decline and by the mid 1970's commercial carrying had finally expired. Thanks mainly to the efforts of various canal societies and recovery groups, there has been a long term restoration programme bringing derelict canals back into use and there is now a very decent navigable network being enjoyed by leisure boaters.

NRA The National Rivers Authority now incorporated with the Environment Agency (EA).

Navigation A general name for a navigable waterway, river or canal.

Navvy Originally a canal construction worker, an abbreviation of navigator or, later, a machine for digging out earth e.g. steam navvy or steam shovel.

Ness The shallow inside of the bend of a river. See also Bight.

Noddy Boat A derogatory term for a very small boat or cruiser.

Noggins Pieces of wood fastened to the side frames or stringers to form a fixing for the linings. They are helpful in reducing the transfer of the exterior low temperature to the inside of the boat in the winter.

Northwich A British canal term for a narrowboat built by W.J. Yarwood Ltd., of Navigation Road, Northwich, Cheshire.

Number One The name for a Steerer (q.v.) who owned his own boat or Pair (q.v.) (or the name for the boat itself) and who was not tied to a particular carrying company but could seek contracts where ever he wished.

NYHA The National Yacht Harbours Association - body representing many marina operators. A subsidiary organisation of BMIF (q.v.).

Off Side A term sometimes used instead of the generally preferred Outside (q.v.) to denote the canal bank opposite the towpath side or that half of the canal furthest from the towpath.

Off Line Mooring Berthing space away from main line of canal e.g. in a marina, side channel or private cut.

Old Union A boatmen's name for what is officially the Leicester Branch of the Grand Union canal. The Leicester Branch was the original Grand Union canal linking Leicester with the then Grand Junction canal at Norton Junction. See also Junction.

On Line Mooring Permitted berthing space alongside towpath or outside bank of main line of canal.

Outside The side of the canal furthest from the towpath. See also Hold Out.

Outside Turn A sharp bend in canal where the deeper channel is on the side furthest from the tow path. Most bends on narrow canals are outside turns as commercial motors towing butties would normally go round wide and the propellers scoured a deeper off centre channel.

Overflow A weir set in the bank of a canal to take away any excess water and prevent flooding. Also called Storm Weir.

Oxter Plate See Uxter Plate.

Paddle Gear A blanket expression for the mechanism that opens and closes a paddle such as a windlass operated rack and cogwheel device.

Paddle The sliding door of a lock gate or other sluice, the drawing of which permits water through. Pair A Motor (q.v.) together with its Butty (q.v.). The same boats could often stay together for many years especially if they were Number Ones (q.v.).

Passenger Annually renewed after inspection by MCA, to be displayed on all boats Certificate licensed to carry more than 12 passengers whether fare paying or not, showing amongst other things, the maximum number of passengers allowed, the minimum number of crew, safety equipment required and the permitted cruising area.

Pawl A catch used on paddle gear to keep it up in the open position.

Pen Eastern Counties' expression for a lock.

Pigeon Box Decorative and functional means of ventilating the Engine 'Ole (q.v.) through a rectangular hole in cabin top framed by a wooden or steel box sides and covered by a house roof like double pitched hinged lids that open upwards. May be fitted with little ports.

Pigeon Box A small opening skylight box on the top of a narrowboat’s deck house.

Piling Hook Another name for a Mooring Hook (q.v.).

Pintle A metal bolt or pin, especially on which something turns or revolves in which case it rests in a cup-shaped bearer e.g. at the foot of the Rudder Stock (q.v.) or the Gate Heel Post.

Pipe Fender A very slim cylindrical rope or rubber fender, common on narrowboats, used when under way to help protect the hull sides and blacking paint.

Plane To skim at high speed over top of the water rather than push through it – not now often seen on the canals In olden days, horse drawn passenger boats reportedly travelled smoothly at speeds up to 10 miles per hour, achieved by the cantering horses pulling the bows on to the bow wave thus reducing the hull’s underwater profile and turbulence.

Pointing Door A Fenland term for a Mitre Gate (q.v.).

Port to Port The usual manner in which oncoming boats pass each other when in close proximity i.e. each boat moves over to its right (starboard) and passes the other on its port side unless the Steerers (q.v.) agree otherwise through hand or sound signals. The custom is believed to have derived from ancient times before the rudder was developed for sailing ships, when many boats had their steering mechanism - the steer board - on the starboard side making steering to port very difficult and slow and where passing starboard to starboard would also have exposed the steering gear to possible collision damage. They would also tie up to quay on the side opposite the steering gear hence port side.

Portage A term for lifting craft around locks and sluices. It means that light craft can use a derelict waterway even though the locks are out of order.

Pound Lock The original term for what is now the usual form of lock i.e. with two sets of gates with a chamber (the pound) in between. Earlier forms of locks (see Flash Lock and Staunch) had only one set of gates or paddles and thus had no pound in between.

Pound The stretch of water on a canal between two locks no matter how far apart.

Powerhead An outboard motor engine.

Pram Canopy A cloth canopy fitted on a folding framework allowing it to be easily raised and lowered. Usually fitted to the cockpit of a cruiser and, infrequently, over a narrowboat's counter to protect the Steerer (q.v.) from bad weather.

Prismatic Light A roof light, flush with cabin top, with similar function to Bull's Eye (q.v.) with an inverted V cross section shape.

Puddle Highly impermeable clay worked up with water then spread and compacted on the bottom and sides of a canal or reservoir to make it watertight. The original method was first used in the 18th century and remains unchanged to the present day.

Quant A Norfolk Broads term for a pole or shaft usually with a flat end to enable it to be thrust into the mud and used to propel sailing boats when there is no wind. Also used as a verb to describe so doing.

Rack A toothed metal rod wound up and down by turning a spindle and cogwheel with a windlass thus opening and closing a Gate Paddle (q.v.) or Ground Paddle (q.v.). Also a river Trent name for the Reach (q.v.) of a river and an Irish term for a Gate Paddle.

Rams Head A large wooden headstock of a Butty's (q.v.) rudder known from its rough shape as a ram's head that is often decorated with fancy ropework or a dead horse's tail into which the large wooden tiller was slotted and also applied on Motors (q.v.) to the Z-shaped piece made from steel which is attached to the upper end of the Rudderstock (q.v.) and to which the Tiller (q.v.) is fitted. The boss is a female taper on well built hulls and fits over a male taper on the top of the rudderstock.

Range Very small iron solid fuel range situated aft in the boatman's cabin and usually on port side to give its chimney more clearance in tunnels etc. being the sole means of providing cooking and heating. Its situation also helped keep the Steerer (q.v.) warm in the winter when standing in the Hatches (q.v.).

Ranter Another term for a Gate Paddle (q.v.).

RBOA The Residential Boat Owners Association an organisation that represents the interests of live aboard boaters.

RCD The Recreational Craft Directive. Europe's first major impact on the UK waterways which has mandatory standards for the construction of new boats and for builders to maintain supporting technical documentation. This was optional from June 1996 and mandatory from June 1998. The initial certificate lasts for four years after which boats must be examined to ensure that they have not been altered and that they comply with the BSS (q.v.). The requirement to create a library of documentation had a bad reception from an industry not used to producing paperwork. Some builders struggled with the first boat but found subsequent ones easier while others employ a marine surveyor to handle the documentation.

Reach A – usually but not necessarily – relatively straight stretch of a river especially on the Thames. Sometimes used to mean the length of a navigable river between locks.

Registration There is no central registry of Ownership of canal boats and it is important to retain the bill of sale or formal receipt of purchase in order to prove Ownership. The Canal and River Trust record whoever applies for an annual canal licence but that is not proof of Ownership as anyone can apply for a licence. Inland waterway vessels which were used as a dwelling had to be registered with a local authority under the terms of the Canal Boats Act 1877 and 1884. The local authority was responsible for the education of children living aboard and for sanitary inspection of the cabins. The name of the authority, their number and any identifying mark had to be clearly displayed on the boat. This had nothing to do with the (rare) possibility that any boats trading inland were Registered British Ships. The latter is normally a requirement for vessels trading internationally, on tidal waters or to prevent fraud in the case of craft which have been mortgaged. The name must be permanently marked on either bow and the name and port of registry on the stern and the Official Number and Registered Tonnage cut into one of the vessel's frames.

Ribbon Plates Decorative plates with pierced rims with or without ribbons threaded through them popular for adorning boatmen's cabins. Also called Hanging Up plates.

Rickies A nickname for a type of working narrowboat built by Walkers at Rickmansworth.

Right Bank An often confusing term referring to the right bank of a river when travelling downstream thus when going upstream the right bank is on the left.

Rimers The posts in the removable portions of flash locks or weirs on the upper Thames against which the weir paddles are placed.

Ring Hole Deep Over laden narrowboat so low in the water that the cloths' string fittings on the gunwales are getting wet.

Riparian Owner The Owner of the land bordering a river or canal.

Riser An alternative name for Staircase Locks (q.v.)

Road The route to one's destination along a canal. See also Good Road and Bad Road.

Rodney Boatman A derogatory term for a boatman who does not keep his boat smart. Rond Anchor A stockless anchor with a single fluke used when tying up to an unprotected bank.

Roses & Castles A traditional and highly stylized manner, along with simple geometric shapes and playing card suit symbols, of decorating a narrowboat's cabin exterior and interior, doors, deck equipment etc. Close up the roses seem almost diagrammatic and each should comprise of no more than four colours. The castle is the main element of what is called the Landscape (q.v.).

Roof A commonly used but incorrect name for the top of the accommodation block or superstructure of a narrowboat. The term should not be used.

Roving Bridge A bridge whose design of essentially U shaped approach and exit that enables horses to cross over and change towpaths without having to be detached from the tow rope.

Royal Class Also called Royalties and a term used to describe narrowboats, originally from large working fleet, all with names having royal connections and capable of carrying large cargoes in a big hold with a depth of some six feet or so. See also Star Class and Town Class.

Rubbing Bars Also additional strips of steel welded along the sides of narrowboat hulls to offer protection to the steel plates and are often called Guards (q.v.). They are usually manufactured from a D section solid steel bar of about 50 mm depth and 10 to 15 millimetres thick. On very cheap hulls these guards are often only fixed to the shell using weld tacks along the top edge. Better quality boats have the top edge continuously welded and the bottom edge tacked while, on the best boats, they are continuously welded both along the top and bottom edge. Beware. They, like the harpins, if only tack welded along the bottom edge are subject to severe crevice and jacking corrosion and should be kept under observation at each docking or slipping.

Rudder The blade on narrowboats normally has an extension upwards at the after end which is normally pierced by a hole. The extension called a nib is there to form a rudder stop against the hull and the hole allows a rope to be put through the blade so that it can be lifted from the gudgeon cup and lowered so that repairs can be made without docking the boat.

Rudder Flight See Flight Plate.

Rudder Nib A rounded upper extension to the after end of the rudder projecting above the waterline and frequently drilled with a small hole to take a Rudder String (q.v.).

Rudder Stock The vertical bar of metal that forms the hinge upon which the rudder turns and which is operated by the vessel’s Steering Gear (q.v.). It runs from the Ram's Head (q.v.), through the top bearing, down the rudderstock tube and is attached to the rudder blade and sits in the cup on the skeg. To ease the handling of the rudder the head of the o o rudderstock is sometimes canted aft by 3 or 4 .

Rudder Strings Also called the Tiller String. Thin lines used when the tiller left unattended, attached to port and starboard rear of the cabin top or after doors, just long enough for their looped ends to go over the end of the tiller arm, either both together to keep rudder amidships or, when used singly, to stop the tiller swinging over to one particular side. They help to keep the fore end against the bank when only the stern can be tied to a strapping stump (and action which needs the engine to be left in forward gear) or, say, to keep the rudder of an unsteered boat that is Breasted Up (q.v.) or is being closely towed on Cross Straps (q.v.) from swinging about and affecting the steering of the Motor (q.v.). Longer strings are sometimes used on a Breasted Up Pair (q.v.), fixed directly between the two tiller arms together with a rudder string between holes in tops of the rudders above the waterline, to give synchronized, and thus far more effective, steering.

Running Blocks Fittings on a Butty (q.v.) to take a tow rope from the Motor (q.v.) down the length of the Butty via a pulley on the topmast and through holes in semi circular wooden blocks fixed along the Top Planks (q.v.), over the cabin top to a cleat inside the Butty Hatches (q.v.) which allowed the Butty Steerer (q.v.) to more quickly take up the strain when the tow started and to adjust the length of the Snubber (q.v.) when under way without involving the Motor Steerer to shorten the Snubber substantially when nearing a lock or to lengthen it after leaving a lock. The system was unpopular with many boatmen, became seldom used and accounted for a number of crushed or missing finger tips.

Running Planks See Top Planks.

RYA The Royal Yachting Association, an organisation mainly concerned with coastal cruising but which offers much advice on inland boating abroad and manages Helmsman Certificate courses.

Sailor An old and very derogatory term for a boatman considered not up to the mark in handling skills or observance of canal customs and etiquette. Apparently first coined after First World War when ex merchant seamen and who proved unpopular with the boating community were taken on by some carrying companies.

Scoop A baling out tool made of wood in the form of a long shovel.

Scour Bank of silt caused by water flow or propeller action.

Scumble Painted graining on interior and/or exterior cabin wood work or onto steel to make it look like wood.

Seffle Engine Manufacturer known for single cylinder semi diesel engines similar to the Bolinder (q.v.) unit and introduced for narrowboat propulsion by the Willow Wren Canal Carrying Co in the early 1950s. Unlike the Bolinders, Seffle engines were fitted with a reverse gear box and had a steady beat.

Semi Traditional Also called a Semi Trad. See Narrowboat.

Set To set a lock is to make it ready for boat to enter or to set a staunch is to close it so that the water may accumulate above it.

Shaft A canal term for a long wooden pole with or without a Boat Hook (q.v.) on the end. Narrowboats carry a cabin shaft usually less than 8 feet (2.5m) in length and easily kept to hand on the cabin top. They might also have a much longer one, up to 12 feet or more for more heavy duty boat handling purposes. The term may also mean to propel a boat between locks in a flight or moorings or through a tunnel with a long shaft as an alternative to Bow Hauling (q.v.) or Legging (q.v.) or to attempt to push boat free from a grounding.

Sheeting Up Covering up and weatherproofing the hold of a working narrowboat by lacing up the side and top cloths or tarpaulins.

Sheering Pieces Light pieces of close fitted wood fastened vertically to the inside of the side planking of a wooden narrowboat to protect the cargo from leaks.

Shell The empty structure of a glass fibre or steel boat. Also the general name for the hull plating.

Short Boat Wide beam boats, 62 feet long, built for the shorter locks on the Leeds and Liverpool canal.

Shroppie An affectionate term for the Shropshire Union Canal.

Shuts False floor in the bottom of the hold.

Side Bed The long seat locker along the starboard side in a boatman's cabin which can be made up into an adult's single bed or a shorter child's bed if the cross wise bed is let out from the Bed Cupboard (q.v.).

Side Paddle The paddle situated in the culvert connecting a lock chamber to a Side Pond (q.v.).

Side Pond A reservoir, frequently brick or masonry lined, alongside a lock chamber used for the temporary storage of water which would otherwise run to waste as the lock is worked. Commonly found in Staircase Flights (q.v.).

Sill The bar of masonry often faced with a timber sealing piece below water level, against which the bottom of the lock gates rest when closed. When descending, care must be taken to avoid the stern gear becoming hung up on the Head Gate (q.v.) sill.

Single Lever A hand lever combining the functions of both gear operation and throttle Control control. Commonly called a Morse after a particular manufacturer.

Single Out To detach a Motor (q.v.) from its Breasted Up Butty (q.v.) and proceed to tow the Butty on either a Snubber (q.v.) or Cross Straps (q.v.).

Skeg A longitudinal appendage and an extension of the keel usually a steel bar or rolled section, on the outside, at the centreline, providing directional stability and/or protection for the propeller and which carries the cup that acts as an gudgeon for the rudderstock. Skin Tank A steel tank fitted to the internal face of the hull below the waterline, the tank contents being cooled by the canal water via the hull plating, usually used for cooling the engine's sealed coolant water system.

Slacker Fenland term for paddle.

Slide A sliding hatch over a cabin door in a narrowboat.

Slip(way) Paved or concreted incline from land into water used for launching or recovering boats on trailers or trolleys. On the canals these are often set at very acute angles to the cut as many boats are longer than the width of the canal.

Slippery Hitch A hitch traditionally used to save time and exertion when descending a lock, for securing the fore end line to the Breast Post (q.v.) of the gate when boat waiting for lock to fill and then opening the gate by reversing away. The hitch slips off by itself when pulled by the boat in the opposite direction as it passes into lock.

Sloop A fore and aft rigged sister to a Keel (q.v.).

Sluice A device to control volume or flow of water or a Fenland term for a lock.

Snatch A tow.

Snatcher Shorter length of Snubber (q.v.) for use in shorter Pounds (q.v.) between locks.

Snubber A heavy towing rope, about 70 feet long used by Motors (q.v.) to tow their Butties (q.v.) on long pounds. Faster speeds could normally be achieved with such a longer rope as the Butty was kept well astern of, and therefore less affected by, the wake from the Motor.

Soap Holes Small storage cubbyholes with oval letter-box openings usually found in the after bulkhead of a narrowboat's traditional boatman's cabin.

Sound Signals Many warning sounds that are required or recommended under IRPCS (q.v.) and by various navigation authorities seem to be widely misunderstood on the canals where Hand Signals (q.v.) are much preferred. However, every boatman should know at least the following:-

1. 1 long blast (about 5 seconds) - " I'm here" - used on canals when approaching hazards e.g. a blind bend or to warn a boat the Steerer (q.v.) thinks has not seen him. 2. 1 short blast - "I'm turning to starboard" - unnecessary and rarely heard on canals as boats always meet head on and by default pass 'port to port' 3. 2 short blasts- "I'm turning to port" 4. 3 short blasts- "My engine is going astern" often usefully employed as 'I'm giving way to you' 5. 4 short blasts- "Your intentions are unclear" 6. 1 long and 1 short blast - "Give way to me, I am not in proper control of my boat" Speed Wheel Small metal wheel in the steerer's hatches that opens or reduces the throttle via a system of rod connections to engine. The gearbox can, rarely, be speed wheel controlled but usually that is by a pull/push handle.

Spike Another name for a Mooring Pin (q.v.).

Splitter See Cutter.

Sponson Buoyancy pontoon fitted alongside vessel to increase stability and often used in conjunction with narrow beam dredgers.

Springs When tied up to the towpath, a pier, quay or another boat, spring lines may be required in addition to the normal fore end and stern lines to prevent the boat from unduly riding forward or aft and to keep it parallel, regardless of the effects of wind, tidal stream, current or a passing boat. A Forespring is secured at the bow and extends aft at right angles to the fore end line whilst a Sternspring extends forward from one of the after dollies.

Springer A type of pleasure narrowboat, usually of short length with a double chine and a shallow V bottom, formerly constructed by Springer Engineering Ltd., of Market Harborough the first company to build narrowboats along production lines.

Staircase Locks A series of two or more lock chambers each of which leads directly into the next without a pound in between. The bottom gates of one lock thus form the top gates of the one below. Sometimes called a Riser.

Staith(e) A coal loading wharf on the rivers Humber, Trent and Ouse.

Stands Wooden pillars extending up from bottom of the hold providing support for the running planks of a working narrowboat.

Stank A temporary watertight dam constructed of piling or thick planks from within which the water can be pumped out to enable below water repairs to be carried out.

Star Class A term used to describe a narrowboat originally from large working fleet all named after heavenly bodies and predominantly comprised of Woolwich (q.v.) and Northwich (q.v.) boats with a lowish depth of hold of about 4' 3". See also Town Class and Royal Class.

Starvationers A nickname for boats approximately 50 feet by 4 feet that brought coal out of the Duke of Bridgewater's mines and on to Bridgewater Canal.

Staunch An alternative term for a Flash Lock (q.v.).

Steerage The effect of a rudder on the boat or the art or practice of steering or the apparatus for steering or that part of passenger ship with the lowest fares.

Steerage Way When boat makes sufficient way through the water to be able to respond to the helm.

Steerer The proper canal term for helmsman of a narrowboat. Stem The foremost part of the bow formed by a curved vertical post (steel or wood) and rounded to prevent the bow jamming under projections into which the forward ends of the hull sides are welded or jointed. Also the practice of using the bow to push against an object - as in pushing open lock gates (frowned upon) or driving against the bank when turning boat round (Winding (q.v.)) or holding a boat on station under engine power against a flow of water (“stemming the tide”) or having a head on collision with something (e.g. “stemmed the bridge”).

Stern Line A line to secure the after end of the vessel by attachment to a dolly or T- stud to other things e.g. a mooring pin. It is considered unprofessional when the line is seen hanging coiled from the tiller pin from where it could slip and foul the propeller when under way or get under the Steerer’s (q.v.) feet. The preference is to remove it from the dolly and coil it neatly within reach on the cabin top ready for possible emergency use with perhaps a bowline formed at one end.

Stemmed Up A boatman's term for running aground at the fore end of the boat.

Stern Beam Or Stern Middle See Cross Beam.

Stop Or Stop Place A narrowed part of the canal just wide enough for one boat to pass through, often at junctions, where boats had to stop to be gauged for tolls.

Stop Gate(s) Made in the form of lock gates and kept open until needed when they were closed across the canal to stop the movement of water. On long Pounds (q.v.) of canals and embankments, stop gates are often placed at intervals in case of a leak or burst so that the escape of water can be quickly confined to the portion of canal between two gates.

Stop Grooves Vertical grooves, in masonry or of iron section, usually provided at the head and tail of a lock and in other narrow locations e.g. Bridge Holes (q.v.) into which Stop Planks (q.v.) can be slotted to form a temporary dam or Stank (q.v.), to facilitate repairs below the normal water level.

Stop Lock A lock sited at the junction of two canals, originally constructed to prevent loss of water from one company's canal to another, sometimes with only a small rise in level of an inch or two. As boats had to stop, it also provided a convenient place for the canal company to gauge boats for tolls.

Stop Planks Wooden boards slotted into Stop Grooves (q.v.) to seal off a section of a canal.

Stoppage A temporary closure of a waterway necessitated by required repairs or due to water shortage.

Stoving Out Term for the killing of bedbugs and other infestations (a working boatman’s occupational hazard) through fumigating the cabin by sealing all gaps and burning insecticidal sulphur candles.

Straining Straps Sometimes called straining chains. Chains fitted transversely across a cargo narrowboat to prevent it going out of gauge when loaded. Straight A long stretch of canal that has been cut perfectly straight, sometimes given name from its locality e.g. the Barby Straight (Oxford Canal).

Straight Shoot A Singled Out Pair (q.v.) approaching and entering straight into a lock already set favourably for them.

Strap Term used for handling rope used in navigation and often placed around a Strapping Stump (q.v.) or Check Pin (q.v.) ashore to slow or check the vessel's movement (but see Cross Strap). In very dry weather a strap might be kept wet by trailing it in the canal so that, when used for slowing and checking a narrowboat by being turned round a Stump (q.v.), it would not jam thus avoiding either the strap snapping or the boat being brought to too violent a stop.

Strapping Post Also called a Strapping Stump. Metal, concrete or wooden post for tying up or slowing down the movement of a boat in locks, quays, wharves etc. Also placed to facilitate narrowboat handling at awkward points on the canal e.g. at a very tight turn would be used with a strap as a fulcrum around which a boat could be hauled or driven. A boatman's preferred term for a bollard.

Stretching The process of lengthening a narrowboat by cutting it in half and welding in new sections between the two separate ends.

Strings Thin lines for lashing down and tying up planks and cloths.

Stud The T shaped pin fitted on the bow and sometimes the stern of a narrowboat to which mooring or handling lines are attached.

Stump Boatman's term for a bollard.

Summit Level The highest Pound (q.v.) in a section of canal i.e. the locks at each end descend away from it. It requires a good and constant water supply from a stream, reservoir or a back pumping system.

Sutton Stop, the Boaters' name for the Hawkesbury Junction where the Oxford Canal joins Coventry Canal and where there is a Stop Lock (q.v.) which for many years was kept by the Sutton family.

Swan Neck9 A section of the tiller of a narrowboat often shaped liked a soft Z and has normally got a turned section of reduced diameter at the end on to which a separate brass decorated tiller extension bar is fitted.

Sweep A long oar with a narrow flat blade.

9. This is a traditional design and originally had the swan neck shape for a reason. Modern pleasure narrowboats are normally built cruiser style and have a large after deck where several people can sit together. They also normally have a seat for the helmsman so that the swan neck tiller design for them is, strictly, redundant and is kept only for appearance reasons. However, traditional working narrow boats had a large deck area forward and only a small counter deck at the stern, abaft the after doors of the cabin, from which the crew could step onto land. Steering from the counter deck was not very safe, with the canal and the propeller just a misstep away. The tiller extension allowed the helmsman to stand, more safely, on the top of the cabin steps, inside the after door. This was much safer and also gave some shelter from the weather as the cabin doors could be shut so just the top of the body was exposed through the hatchway. The tiller extension then needed to be that shape to raise the tiller handle a comfortable height for steering but also to pass over the coal box that stood behind the cabin. Swim The tapered entry and run of a narrowboat are often called the forward and after swims respectively. A boat is said to swim well or to be a good swimmer if it answers quickly and positively to the tiller and makes way without causing too much turbulence.

Swing Bridge A movable bridge which pivots horizontally on some form of turntable. May be Manually pushed, cranked by handle or electrically operated.

Swim Ended Or Headed. A vessel's bow or stern, usually rectangular in plan, with an outward taper from the waterline e.g. a river Thames lighter.

T Stud A heavy mooring post fastened to the fore deck and shaped like the letter T. Sometimes called a T Cleat. See Stud.

Table Cupboard A distinctive and often highly decorated cupboard in the boatman's cabin fitted on port side between the range and the Bed Cupboard (q.v.). It usually has a tall door hinged along the bottom edge that lets down to become a table top. Sometimes featured in main cabins of modern narrowboats due to its space saving properties.

Tail The entry area immediately below the bottom gates of a lock the area above the top gates being the Head.

Tail Gate(s) The 'bottom gates of a lock i.e. at the lower Pound (q.v.) level.

Tender A small boat or dinghy used to transport the boat crew to and from the boat on a midstream or otherwise isolated mooring. Usually towed astern or carried onboard ready for use in davits.

Thick A number of locks very close together.

Thumb Lining A traditional technique, when descending a lock, for opening the bottom gates with lines, usually from the boat’s mast, and so arranged on the gates that they open when reversing the boat but automatically slip off as the boat exits, thus saving valuable time and effort.

Ticket Drawer A small drawer or cupboard just inside the Steerer's (q.v.). door of a narrowboat originally used for keeping receipts for tolls incurred, cargo manifests etc.

Tie Up A boatman's preferred term for moor.

Tiller The lever against which the Steerer (q.v.) pushes to direct the Rudder (q.v.) to steer the boat. The bar is often removable in which case it is a courtesy to remove it immediately boat is tied up and not to put it place until immediately before letting go. Also a bar or handle for turning an outboard motor.

Tiller Strings Thin lines used when the Tiller (q.v.) is left unattended attached to the port and starboard after end of the cabin top or after doors just long enough for their looped ends to go over end of tiller arm, either both together to keep rudder amidships or, when used singly, to stop the Tiller swinging over to one particular side which helps to keep the fore end against the bank when only the stern can be tied to a Strapping Stump (q.v.) It needs the engine to be left in forward gear or to keep the rudder of an unsteered boat that is Breasted Up (q.v.) or is being closely towed on Cross Straps (q.v.), from swinging about and affecting the steering of the Motor (q.v.). Longer string sometimes used on a Breasted Up Pair (q.v.), fixed directly between the two tiller arms together with a Rudder String (q.v.) between the holes in the tops of the rudders above the waterline, to give synchronized and thus far more effective, steering.

Tip Cat A traditional type of stern fender of a wraparound style as distinct from a button type. Its main purpose is to oversail and protect the rudder from impact damage.

Titch See Cutter.

Toll The charge payable by a trader for the use of a canal normally calculated on type and weight of cargo.

Tom Puddings Iron, oblong, box shaped, coal carrying compartment boats used in long trains in the North East until the 1980's especially on the Aire and Calder canal. They would be craned out of the water to tip their loads into sea going ships.

Topboard The topmost side plank in a wooden narrowboat butty and the top end of the side plate above the rubbing strake in a metal one.

Top Hopper The usual form of side window on modern pleasure boats consisting of a Window large rectangular fixed lower pane plus a shallow upper pane that lets down slightly into the cabin for ventilation when required.

Top Planks Planks running at high level the length of narrowboat from cabin top to the Cratch Deck Board (q.v.) to allow access over loaded hold to the fore deck. They also serve to support the cloths covering the cargo. Also known as planks, running planks or gang planks.

Top or High Road The route taken through Birmingham as opposed to the Bottom Road (q.v.).

Tow Path The path by the side of the canal used by horses or men hauling boats.

Towing Post A Horse Boat's (q.v.) or Butty's (q.v.) mast to which the tow rope is attached. Located some way down the boat from the fore end to enable the boat to answer the rudder.

Town Class A term used to describe narrowboat, originally from large working fleet, all named after English towns, predominantly comprised of Woolwich and Northwich types with a middling depth of hold of just over 4 feet 6 inches. See also Star Class and Royal Class.

Trainee A term frequently applied by working boatmen to another boatman who had not been born and bred on the canals regardless of his length of service, skill and experience even though his own children may have been born and raised on board and not regarded as trainees. Transit Marks Bank markers at certain river Thames’ locations, a measured distance apart, enabling boaters to check their speed by having regard to the time taken to travel between them.

Transom The structural member forming the square after (stern) end of the boat.

Trow A sailing barge used on the river Severn. There were two types of trow: large working on the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel and small not working below Gloucester but going up river when the water depth allowed.

Tub Boats Small box boats carrying from 3 to 5 tons, often hauled in long trains especially on the Shropshire Canal system. On the Bude canal some were fitted with wheels to also run overland on rails between changes in water levels.

Tug A generally shorter length boat with no cargo space but with an often powerful engine for towing other boats, hoppers etc. Modern pleasure boat versions have a long open foredeck with the deck level with the gunwale.

Tunnel Canal tunnels were avoided where possible by the early builders due to the expense, technical difficulties, time (they took many years) and worker fatalities. If they had to go up hills they installed locks until they reached a height above which a reliable water supply was impossible; then a tunnel was unavoidable. The early tunnels were driven by hand, pick, shovel and gunpowder. Apart from excavating into the side of the hill, numerous shafts were sunk along the line of the tunnel down to the proposed navigation level. Workmen, lowered down the shafts, excavated out in both directions to meet up with the excavation from the next shaft. Mistakes were made which accounts for the snaking in some tunnel lines, still extant today. Fires would be lit at the bottom of the shafts to create updraughts which ventilated the workings. The spoil was usually dumped close by the shafts, some of which would be filled in after completion and some retained to ventilate the tunnel of methane and foul air. Those retained would be protected by chimney like structures above ground still visible today along with the spoil heaps. The underground soil conditions were largely unknown and some tunnels proved impossible to complete and had to be abandoned, the canal line changed and started again elsewhere. Many took years to complete, long after the canal either side had been commissioned in which case cargoes had to be transhipped overland. The earliest tunnels were narrow, permitting one way traffic only and had no towpaths. Boats would be taken through by leggers whilst the horses were led over the top. Later tunnels were wide enough to allow narrowboats to pass each other and later still they were built with towpaths and some even had lighting. To keep the traffic moving quickly through the narrow tunnels some companies later installed cable winches, or provided steam tugs, to tow boats through in trains.

Tunnel Hooks Heavy metal hooks attached to the Anser Pins (q.v.) on the hull on one or both sides of a Butty's (q.v.) stern, used to attach a tow rope from her stern to the bow or T Stud (q.v.) of another unpowered boat being towed astern. Used in preference to the stern Dollies (q.v.) to avoid the tow rope fouling her large rudder assembly which would interfere with steering. Procedure used when a Motor (q.v.) or a Tug (q.v.) is towing two or more Butties often through Tunnels (q.v.) - hence the name. A Steerer (q.v.) on a Motor (q.v.) might prefer to use a tunnel hook instead of a Dolly for general towing purposes.

Tunnel Light Traditionally a low intensity oil or candle lamp shown at the fore end of a narrowboat when navigating tunnels, more as a warning to oncoming boats than as a steering aid. Replaced by a car headlight when boat electrics introduced but always angled upwards to avoid dazzling oncomers. A Motor (q.v.) might also have shown a small light at the stern or from the back of the cabin top for the benefit of the Butty (q.v.) behind. See Bobby Dazzler.

Turf Sided Lock An early type of Pound Lock (q.v.) but rarely found on canal Navigations (q.v.), where the only the masonry provided was immediately in support of the gates. The chamber sides were simple earth banks sloping outwards.

Turn Up To make fast a rope.

Turnbridge See Swing Bridge.

Turned Round Said of a lock, either emptied or filled, set in favour of traffic coming from the opposite direction and needing to be set before a boat can enter it.

Turnover Bridge Another name for a Roving Bridge.

Turns A system adopted for navigating a flight of canal locks when water in short supply, to make the most use of the water. Each boat waits for a boat to come the opposite way before entering the next lock if it is turned round, so as to make sure that the maximum amount of traffic passes for the minimum water consumed.

Uprights Removable wooden planks propped at an angle over the cargo space from gunwale to top planks, providing support for the side and top cloths.

Upswing Old boatman’s name for the sheerline.

Uxter Plate The horizontal steel plate which forms the bottom of a counter stern on a narrowboat. Also called a Counter Plate or Oxter Plate.

Wash Waves along the bank created by the wake from a boat. On canals, to avoid damage to the banks, boats should keep wash to a minimum at all times but especially if the waves have breaking crests.

Washer Josher A humorous term for a modern narrowboat styled on traditional lines but where the exterior of the hull has been finished with imitation riveting details to make it appear of vintage construction, the washer implying that washers have simply been stuck on). Water Can A large can in which a boatman kept his fresh water for drinking, washing etc., usually placed within the Steerer's (q.v.) reach on the cabin top immediately by the Range Chimney (q.v.) to keep the water from freezing. Usually decorated with Roses and Castles (q.v.) and often painted with boat's name. See Buckby Can.

Watercress Boat A humorous name for a leaky boat.

Weak Link A link in the chains securing stem or stern fenders, weakened for safety reasons (e.g. by cutting through one side) so that it will break and allow the fender to fall away if it catches on a gate projection when filling or emptying a lock.

Wearing or An extension of about ¾″ to 1¼″ (20 to 30 mm) of the bottom plate of a Sacrificial Chine welded steel narrowboat each side beyond the outside of the side plate to take the severe wear on the chine from striking the bank sides as the boat moves through the canals. Beware: Such wear sometimes leaves the edges of the bottom plate razor sharp.

Weather Side Side from which wind is blowing.

Weed Hatch An opening in the counter or uxter plate of a narrowboat surrounded by a low height coaming and closed off at the top by a portable watertight cover and at the bottom by a Cavitation Plate (q.v.). Designed to enable the boatman to clear the propeller of weed or other debris while the vessel remained afloat. Boatmen of old did not have that luxury, if they could not clear the fouling by using the boat hook from the towpath then they had to get into the water and duck down underneath the counter.

Weir An overspill dam placed across a river or alongside a canal or by the sides of locks (in which case they discharge back into the waterway below the locks) for regulating the depth of water.

Well Deck The floor of a well or cockpit.

West Country The name for the flat bottomed swim headed barges that traded on the non tidal Thames. Bargemen working above Teddington Lock were said to be travelling West Country. Also used in reference to the Calder and Hebble Navigation in Yorkshire.

Wherry A decked sailing vessel of very shallow draught used for the transport of small quantities of freight on the Norfolk Broads designed to sail extremely close to the wind and able to sail in a desired direction in winds that would be foul to other sailing boats in order to reduce the need of tacking, which is difficult or impossible in narrow waters. Also the name given to a rowed passenger boat used as a water taxi on the river Thames.

Wide Beam A boat with a beam over 7 feet (2.1 m), but less than 14 feet 6 inches (4.42 m) in use on canals with wide locks. The usual warning signal to an oncoming boat that a wide beam is coming up behind, (q.v.) particularly if they are likely to meet it at a hazard such as a Bridge Hole or a tight bend is to fully extend both arms out sideways.

Wigrams Wigram’s Three, the Calcutt Locks on the Grand Union and Wigrams Turn, the Junction of the Oxford and the Grand Union canals at Napton. Named after the farming family whose house was at the Turn and with whom boatmen would trade a bit of their loads of coal etc for fresh produce.

Wind Dodger Weatherproof fabric curtain stretched around a taffrail to provide some shelter and to prevent infants or animals from falling overboard from the cockpit or counter.

Wind To turn a boat around. Rhymes with tinned.

Winding Hole Pronounced win-ding. A triangular bay cut into the outside bank of the canal to provide sufficient room for craft longer than the canal's width to turn around.

Windlass An L shaped handle for operating lock paddles with a square socket at one end to fit on the spindle operating the paddle gear. Also known as a crank in some districts and sometimes called a lock key. Drum winch with cranked handles or removable hand spikes used for raising an anchor.

Wings Flat pieces of board lashed to extend out from a narrowboat's sides for Leggers (q.v.) to lie on so the boat could be legged through tunnels when they were too high and wide for the Leggers to reach the tunnel walls with their feet from the boat's deck.

Wing Walls The high walls either side of the approach to the Bottom or Tail Gates (q.v.) of a lock.

Wobble Water disturbed by passage of boat e.g. "To make the water wobble" means to navigate at speed.

Woolwich A British canal term for a narrowboat built by Messrs Harland and Wolf Ltd., at North Woolwich, east London. They were built in two lengths called Large and Small and were mainly built with riveted steel sides and elm bottoms. The design was intended to achieve a faster swim when loaded.

Wrapping Plate The plate forming the vertical plate round the elliptical or round stern of a canal narrowboat. A flat plate across the stern is called the transom.

WRG The Waterway Recovery Group a radical arm of the IWA. While the IWA campaigns, WRG takes direct action to recover waterways with volunteers with shovels, JCBs and concrete mixers.